DOVER ― What the Dover High School football team lacks in numbers this year it hopes to make up with the more intangible qualities that successful football teams possess.

“I think it’s all heart,” said senior co-captain Eric Waddington. “Not to say that we didn’t have a lot of heart last year, but this year we have a lot. We have a lot of guys coming out giving everything they got.”

For the second straight year, the Green Wave will take the field with depleted numbers. A mere 42 were spotted at Dover’s first practice of the season in mid-August, and only 30 are listed on the preseason varsity roster.

Dover coach Ken Osbon said the situation is worse than last year.

“You can only play 11 at a time,” said Osbon, now in his 22nd year at the helm. “We’ve never experienced this. We’ve always had an opportunity to be competitive and put ourselves into playoff contention. (It’s) frustrating, but we’re learning as we go.”

Compounding the challenge Dover faces, this year the Green Wave are part of the new Division I, the top tier in a realigned classification that consolidated six conferences down to three. The new division is more or less comprised of the teams that were in Division II with Dover last season and the old D-I, which contained the largest 10 schools in the state.

While most Dover players would probably prefer the old alignment to the new, the Green Wave is ready to play the hand it was dealt.

“It’s going to be tough, and we’re just going to have to keep fighting our way through it,” said senior co-captain Isaiah Bickham. “A lot of those teams are good. We just have to keep going and do the best we can.”

Dover went 3-8 last season and missed the playoffs, one year after finishing runners-up in D-II. This year, Dover is in the East conference with Exeter, Spaulding, Winnacunnet and Timberlane. The Green Wave will face all four of those teams, plus the entire West conference of Alvirne, Bishop Guertin, Keene, Nashua North and Nashua South. Of the nine teams on Dover’s schedule, three (Exeter and the two Nashua public schools) were in the old D-I last year.

“We just have to play 100 percent all the time,” said senior co-captain Brendan Madsen. “Can’t give up at all.”

That’s easier said than done. With such a profound lack of depth, injuries could be devastating for the Green Wave should they rack up too many.

“I can’t play freshmen at the varsity level,” Osbon said. “And I’ve only got so many upperclassmen I can play. If we were to get substantial amount of injuries, it wouldn’t surprise me if we had to cancel a varsity game.”

“Last year was a learning situation for Derek,” Osbon said about Stegman. “He studies and spends a lot of time with film. (Will) he be better? Yes, but now it comes down to, is everyone else around him better?”

Most of the team will have to play both ways, so the Green Wave’s defense will feature a number of the same names as on offense. Seniors Jared Riecks-Kurshinsky and Ryan Hayden are returning defensive players with some experience, while newcomers Tyler Foley, Josh Lyndes, Isaiah Bolden, Dwayne Gordon, Kristian Kennedy and Jack Brandin are expected to contribute.

Osbon made clear that the desire to avoid injuries aside, the Green Wave would approach this season just like any it had in years past.

“The Dover football experience doesn’t change,” Osbon said. “We expect you to do what any player before you was expected to do. That’s what the game teaches you. And that’s all we’re asking ― do your best, continue to improve, work hard.”